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A list of internship sites.
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Paul Rinehart, owner of The Spoke in Williamstown, speaks about his intern Damien Peters.
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Internship Director Abby Reifsnyder hands a certificate to Tyler Brewer.
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Reifsnyder shakes hands with Josh Canitrot.
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Zach Bombardier, left, worked with Alex Daugherty, a probation officer in juvenile services who works with the Shakespeare in the Courts program.
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Austin LaBlue receives his certificate.
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Reifsnyder hugs Brayton Elementary School teacher Kari Lyden-Foitier.
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Superintendent James Montepare gives his remarks at the celebration.

North Adams Students Celebrate Completion of E3 Program

By John DurkaniBerkshires Staff
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The students posing with their internship providers and Internship Director Abby Reifsnyder.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Twelve Drury High School students enrolled in the E3 intern program were recognized for completing the course on Thursday morning at Conte Middle School.
 
Program Coordinator Chris Barbarotta explained that E3 — which stands for effort, employability and essential skills and knowledge — motivates students who are ready to give up on school to refocus in a nontraditional classroom setting and participate in internships. After completing E3 the students are eligible to graduate in the upcoming month.
 
"It didn't just give them a place to be, it gave them the motivation to succeed," Barbarotta said.
 
Internship Director Abby Reifsnyder said the students met every morning of the school year and worked on arithmetic, writing and social skills needed in the real world, and then applied those skills towards their internships, which ranged from working in Mark's Auto Repair to designing costumes at Williams College to volunteering at Village Ambulance.
 
Superintendent James Montepare thanked the participating businesses and the students for paving the way for this new program, which stemmed from the former Community Transition Program that ended last year.
 
"This student group this year has reshaped our alternative learning program," Montepare said. "I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you folks. You've really knocked this out of the park."
 
The employers were just as thankful for their help and The Spoke owner Paul Rinehart said his intern Damien Peters had the skills and motivation to survive in the world.
 
"I've had my store for nearly 30 years, 29 years next month and I've trained maybe a 150 different employees and I wish I had more Damiens," Rinehart said.
 
Barbarbotta explained that the program works in a cycle with overlapping groups of students, with some of the students who finished in February unable to attend the celebration.

Tags: Drury High,   school program,   

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North Adams Committee Rejects Changes to Airport Commission Ordinance

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The General Government Committee is recommending the City Council reject a proposal for council approval of appointments to the Airport Commission.
 
The question had been raised after an appointment to the commission by Mayor Jennifer Macksey had come under fire at a council meeting. Macksey had withdrawn his name and appointed him without council approval, as laid out in the city charter. Prior to that, she had put forward all appointments to boards and committees for confirmation.
 
The 2-1 vote, with committee member Ashley Shade voting nay, came after a sometimes testy debate on Tuesday over whether the current language aligns with state and federal laws. 
 
The committee also recommended, again with Shade voting no, to not amend the ordinance to prohibit anyone with business at the airport from serving on the commission. Attorney Joel Bard of KP Law, the city solicitor, said state laws were in place to deal with the conflicts of interest on the independent commission that Shade sought to deter. 
 
"There's a whole apparatus at the state level to enforce the conflict of interest law. That's not self-enforcing, so if there is a violation that's occurring, somebody needs to bring it to the attention of the staff of the State Ethics Commission," Bard said, attending via Zoom. "There's a large state bureaucracy that enforces that law."
 
Shade had put forward the language she said would bring the ordinance in line with MGL Chapter 90, Section 51E that states airport commissioners "shall be appointed, in cities, by the mayor with the approval of the city council, and in towns by the selectmen." 
 
"It's this MGL provision that allowed us to establish an airport commission. Airport commissions did not exist before the charter, because this provision is what allows us to even have an airport commission," she said. "We should be following this provision in MGL to the exact letter of the law, because it is what allows us to even formulate and have the Airport Commission to run and operate."
 
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